


infinite

by museaway



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It, Hospital Sex, Hospitals, I wrote this to stop crying after S8, M/M, Premonition, Prophetic Dreams, Retcon, season 8 fix-it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 16:03:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17004759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/museaway/pseuds/museaway
Summary: Shiro wakes Keith from a nightmare in the hospital. While Shiro is quick to comfort him, dismissing what he saw as a dream, Keith fears it was a glimpse of their future. But one they can change.(Or, the one where season 8 was only a nightmare and Shiro makes sure Keith feels better.)





	infinite

**Author's Note:**

> Head's up: This opens with the wedding, but it's not what it seems.
> 
> I wanted to write a fix-it that acknowledged the events of season 8 and puts them to use while simultaneously invalidating them. This also fixes my issue with the end of season 7—Shiro not being with Keith in the hospital. I have a self-imposed rule about characters saying “I love you” which I have thrown out today. They can say it a hundred, a thousand times. This is the most self-indulgent thing I’ve ever written, but it helped me cope. Maybe it will help you too. 
> 
> Thank you to Jess (wincechesters) for looking this over ♥

Keith was used to watching Shiro from a distance: the first glimpse across a classroom, chasing him across the desert times they’d raced until sundown. Flashes of one another from their lions. On view screens galaxies apart.

When Shiro left for Kerberos, Keith had stared up at the place where the ship had disappeared into the clouds until his neck ached. And when Shiro had gone missing, Keith had never stopped looking.

Today, Keith watched him from the front row of a small crowd. They’d gathered at an outdoor venue in the desert. The other paladins were there in formal wear, all but Allura. A chill went through him and the sensation of something dark. Shiro was wearing white. He wore a ring on his left hand and slid one onto someone’s finger, someone Keith didn’t recognize, and he felt numb, like he had when he’d found out Shiro was sick, that the Kerberos mission had failed and wouldn’t return. The world around him moved like he was standing in some thick, transparent block, and unable to tear his eyes away he watched, helpless, as Shiro smiled at another man in another white suit and closed his eyes to kiss him.

The guests cheered. Keith opened his mouth but nothing came out. He couldn't turn his head or his body. Fear rushed up cold through his feet. The person he loved most in the world had given himself to someone else and Keith couldn't blink, couldn't move toward him, couldn't even speak.

Frozen in place, he was dying and all he could do was watch.

There were other things, other visions: lungs starved for oxygen on a barren planet, a hellish carnival ride, a dark surface he couldn't penetrate, Zarkon, the echo of Allura’s goodbye. It came at him like a towering wall of water he couldn't escape. And Shiro a stranger, a rift between them Keith couldn't comprehend, and in someone else’s arms.

“Keith. Keith, wake up. You’re dreaming.”

Someone was clasping his left shoulder tightly—so hard it hurt, but that pain and a voice he'd know anywhere wrenched him from the nightmare. Keith sat up gasping.

The hospital room was dark. He knew it was the hospital by the smell of antiseptic, slow beep of the monitor above his head. Soreness permeated his body that was wrapped in bandages. Keith blinked until his eyes began to water. The image in his head, which had seemed immediate just seconds ago, was already losing color, although its details were no less sharp. The hand on his shoulder rubbed it gently. He turned his head toward the familiar blue glow.

“Shiro.”

Shiro was wearing his Garrison uniform and a worried expression Keith could just make out. He sat in a chair beside the bed.

“Hey,” Shiro said. “Looked like you were having a pretty rough dream. They warned us that might be a side effect of the medication you're on. Do you want me to call a nurse?”

Keith shook his head.

“I told your mother I’d stay with you overnight. She and Kolivan will be back in the morning.”

Keith's throat felt dry. He swallowed, glancing to Shiro’s human arm, cloaked in shadow at his side. With a shaking hand, Keith reached for it, and Shiro seemed to understand because he took Keith's hand in his. Keith held his breath and guided his opposite thumb across Shiro’s fourth finger.

No ring.

Relief punched through him and Keith began to cry so hard he couldn’t breathe—ugly sobs wrung from the pit of his stomach. Shiro said his name and folded him in his arms, guiding Keith’s head to rest on his shoulder.

“Whatever it was, it wasn't real, okay? It wasn’t real.”

“You were getting married,” Keith choked out. “I was standing behind you. You were both wearing white.”

“I’m right here.” Shiro smoothed Keith’s hair. “I promise you, I didn't marry anyone while you were asleep.”

“Allura. She wasn’t there, at the wedding. Honerva was erasing realities. Is she...”

“Allura’s fine. They’re all fine. We stopped the attack.” Shiro rocked him slowly. “Are you okay?”

Keith’s teeth chattered with a cold he didn’t feel. He shook his head again and Shiro held him tighter. The hospital gown only covered Keith’s front. Shiro's hand was warm against the bare skin on his back, breath soothing in his ear.

“You’re shaking,” Shiro said. “Would you please let me call a nurse?”

“No.” Keith grasped at Shiro’s shirt as though he could crawl inside of him.

“You won’t even remember it in a few minutes,” Shiro whispered. “It was only a dream.”

But what if it wasn’t? Keith had seen glimpses of the future before, and this had gutted him. It had felt so real. “I couldn’t speak,” he said. “Or look away.”

Shiro laughed a little. “I didn’t know you hated weddings that much.”

“Neither did I.”

Keith started to pull away, but Shiro moved his hand to the back of Keith’s head and kept it against his shoulder.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get here earlier.”

“I listened to your speech. It was good.”

“Thank you. I get nervous talking in front of that many people. Listen, Keith…” Shiro took a breath. “There’s something I think I should tell you. It’s something I should’ve said a lot sooner, but...to be honest, I wasn’t sure how to bring it up.”

“It’s fine.”

“You don’t even know what I’m about to say.”

“I can guess. You’re gonna stay on Earth with the Garrison, right? You’re not coming back out with us.”

“See, this is why it’s important we actually _talk_.” Shiro loosened his arms enough that Keith could look him in the eye, so close their noses almost touched. “I want you to listen closely. Okay?”

Keith nodded. The cool metal of Shiro’s prosthetic hand brushed the side of his face, trailing along his jaw and tilting his chin up.

“Are you listening?” Shiro said and Keith licked his lips.

“Yeah.”

“When Allura restored my consciousness, my memories fused with the memories from the clone. I remember everything you said to me then. I remember what you said during our fight.”

Cheeks burning, Keith jerked his face away. Shiro touched the scar he’d left on him.

“I’m so sorry for hurting you,” he said.

“You didn’t mean to. You weren’t yourself.”

Shiro put his lips to the scar. “I love you, Keith. That’s why I could never marry someone else.”

Tears slipped hot from beneath Keith’s eyelids. Warmth bloomed in his chest, winding gently through every part of him. The shaking stopped. Shiro loved him. The arm he’d put behind Keith encircled his back, fingers curved around the side of his waist, underneath the hospital gown. Keith no longer felt like he was dying. The overhead monitor beeped faster.

He opened his eyes. In the dark, at this distance, he could hardly see any of Shiro. He was a blur in Keith's periphery. But he saw what he needed to.

Shiro’s hair was smooth against his fingers. He’d always wanted to touch it. Against his cheek, Shiro drew a sharp breath. He kissed the scar again, moving along the arc of it, to the corner of Keith's lips.

“May I kiss you?” he said.

Keith smiled. “Took you long enough.”

The first kiss was a long, slow joining of lips. They held each other and breathed. Shiro lifted his mouth from Keith's, repositioning it a fraction of space away, and repeated it, dropping feather-light kisses across his upper and lower lips until Keith was tingling.

He kissed Shiro hard, with his mouth closed, channeling all the anguish of six years. Shiro moaned and pulled back, struggling out of his jacket. He threw it on the chair and lowered the bed’s safety rail, returning his mouth to Keith’s and kissing him the way Keith had dreamed he would.

He lay back and tried to pull Shiro on top of him.

“I shouldn’t put my weight on you,” Shiro said.

“I don’t care.”

“I do. Move over.”

Keith made as much space for him as he could. Shiro’s boots dropped to the floor and Shiro crawled into the bed beside him, taking Keith back into his arms.

“I’m so glad you’re all right,” he said against his lips. “When you didn’t wake up, I thought my heart would stop.”

Both of Shiro's hands were underneath the hospital gown. It had ridden up so that Keith was naked below the waist and rubbing directly against Shiro’s clothes. Keith felt for his collar and undid the buttons until he could work his arms inside. Shiro untied the gown where it was fastened at Keith’s neck and pushed it aside so they were skin to skin. Keith moaned.

“Am I hurting you?” Shiro said.

“No. Feels good.”

“Can I touch you?”

“Yeah,” Keith said. “Please.”

He gasped as Shiro’s human hand closed around him, larger than his and not as hot, the panic over what he’d seen temporarily forgotten. The universe collapsed to the two of them. In this moment, nothing else mattered.

“You are so beautiful,” Shiro whispered.

Keith exhaled in disbelief. “My whole body’s torn up.”

“You’re still beautiful. You’re the only person I want to touch like this.”

“Shiro…”

“Tell me what you like.”

“Faster,” Keith said. “And kiss me while you do it.”

The motion of Shiro's hand created a wet, slick sound in the otherwise quiet room. Keith moaned into his mouth, thrusting inside the circle of his fingers. Behind his eyes, he saw worlds, galaxies they would explore together, and his love for him felt as infinite.

“Are you getting close?”

Biting at Shiro’s lips, Keith nodded several times. The heart monitor was racing.

“If we’re not careful, a nurse is going to come in,” Shiro said.

“I don’t care. Just don’t stop. Oh, god, Shiro—”

Shiro smothered what he was going to say next but stopped moving his hand. Keith whined in protest only to throw his head back the next moment as the warmth of Shiro’s mouth enveloped him. He had dreamed but never dared hope they could be like this. And to feel Shiro on him now—the tenderness of his movements, how careful he was the touch Keith’s legs only where he wasn't bruised—Keith wondered how, out of everyone in the universe, he could be the one Shiro had chosen.

“I love you,” Keith said and his eyes ran over with the enormity of it. He slid both hands into Shiro's hair. “I love you. I love you. I—”

He broke like waves. A sense of calm washed over him although he was still crying. Shiro kissed the hollow of his stomach, the center of his chest. His neck. Bearing his weight on his arms, he kissed Keith’s mouth and the tears from his face.

“I will never get tired of hearing you say that.”

He located Keith’s hospital robe and re-tied it around his neck, smoothing the front. He kissed Keith's forehead and settled beside him, covering them both with the sheet.

“Sorry if I was a little over-exuberant,” Shiro said. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah. Thank you. Hey, what about you?” Keith reached between Shiro’s legs, but Shiro caught his hands.

“When you’re out of the hospital. They said you might be able to go home tomorrow.”

“I want to stay with you,” Keith said.

“Whatever you want.” Shiro kissed him. “You’re scowling again.”

“It's just...I've never had a dream that vivid before. I don't think it was really a dream, more like when I was in the quantum abyss and time was collapsing.”

Shiro stroked the side of Keith’s face. “You said you felt something before you found the Blue Lion. Maybe your abilities are advancing.”

“Wouldn’t that mean I saw the future?”

“I don't believe anything is set in stone. It hasn't happened yet. That means we can still change it. We can change one thing right now.” Shiro squeezed Keith’s hand. “I promise you will never have to watch me marry someone else.”

“I want to keep flying with you.”

“Me too. Tomorrow we'll talk with the team. You can tell them what you saw.”

“I saw Lance kiss Allura,” Keith said. “Think I ought to tell ‘em that?”

Shiro laughed. “Honestly, I would tell them everything. If it is a premonition, every piece of information helps.”

“You barely spoke to me. You were gonna let me get my throat slit.”

“That’s absurd,” Shiro said.

“You would’ve rescued me?”

“Keith, if you were in danger, I would do anything to save you.” He kissed him again. “But I still want you to tell them what you saw, just in case there's any truth to it.”

“Okay,” Keith said. He touched his nose to Shiro’s. “I want to stay like this.”

“I won’t leave you.”

Shiro closed his eyes, only inches away, with Keith watching.

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a month and I'm still mad about the last season. I hope this made you smile, even a little bit. ♥ 
> 
> If you’re on Twitter, [I hope you’ll come say hello](http://www.twitter.com/museawayfic).


End file.
